Well, it finally happened. Raven graduated with her M.A.! The university commencement ceremony was very nice. Elder Scott spoke and gave some excellent life advice including the charge to smile 🙂 It got pretty hot standing out in the parking lot in a long black robe and a velvet neck wrap in heels and almost 9 months pregnant, but it was worth it. The college convocation was also interesting and short–one of the benefits of graduating in August, as opposed to in April, is that the line of graduates isn’t nearly as long! Here are a couple pictures from the celebrations. And, just for the record, black isn’t my color and, really, who looks good in a graduation cap?

Receiving the diploma cover 😉

With Bryce and Amelie--and some random kid in the background. Oh, and Tigger, of course. And that growth on Amelie's leg is just Bryce's hand...

So, that’s all folks. I am officially done with school!

So, I was feeling bad the other day because I feel like our baby boy is already getting second sibling treatment. With Amelie, we took several pictures of me with my pregnant belly. This pregnancy, it hasn’t happened. Poor kid–it’s already started and he isn’t even born yet 😉 So, I made Bryce take a picture of me the other day just so we would have at least one for this baby’s book.  To compare, here’s me at 30 weeks with Amelie:

And here’s me at 29 weeks with this little one. It’s hard to tell because of the shirt I’m wearing, but I think I’m actually carrying him a bit lower.

Finally, the other day I was in a pie making mood and ended up making an apple pie drizzled with caramel sauce and sprinkled with pecans. I was so happy that it turned out, so I just had to take a picture. Yummy!

Amelie and I have been enjoying crafting together this summer. She loves her finger paints. Probably her favorite thing of all, however, is her apron. Now when she sees me wearing my apron in the kitchen, she has to have hers on, too. So, here is a tribute to our study of the letter Y and the color yellow.

We’ve had a really fun summer so far. In June, we went to the zoo and also attended Strawberry Days, the Pleasant Grove summer festival. The highlight of Strawberry Days was definitely the rodeo–a first for both me and Amelie. Here’s a picture of Amelie and Bryce at the city’s pioneer museum. Please excuse the hat–we couldn’t find one that fit her that morning. She actually got pretty attached to this hat from Bryce’s mission days.

One of Amelie’s favorite things to do right now is try on grown-up shoes. Dress up, here we come!

And on July 4th, we had a great time camping (just a day trip) with the Haymonds. Amelie loved going out fishing in their raft on the lake. And, just in case you were wondering, I’m getting over my fear of fish. I think being stuck in the confined space of the raft with the fish forced me to face my phobia 😉 Here’s a picture of Amelie after a morning of fishing enjoying an apple–another one of her favorite things. This was her first whole apple and she pretty much devoured it.

We have plans to go camping again at the end of this month and are looking forward to it. So far, it’s been a great summer!

This past month, Raven and Amelie got to visit Raven’s family out in North Carolina for a little over a week. We had so much fun! It was wonderful to see everyone that we love out there. Amelie fell head over heels for Grandma and Grandpa’s two cats and chased them all over the house. We had a terrific visit and can’t wait to see everyone again later this Fall! A few pictures:

Here’s Amelie doing her famous excited pose. She gets so excited about something that it’s as if she just can’t contain it any longer and releases some of it by clenching her fists and staring intently at the object of said excitement. Normal? Probably not. Cute? Definitely.

Amelie loves all of her cousins (of course) but she was especially fond of C who graciously played with Amelie for many hours and patiently let Amelie follow her around. Very sweet.

Here’s Amelie sporting a stunning pair of post-manicure flip flops (courtesy of Aunt N and the nail salon). She loves to try on everyone’s shoes.

So, thank you everyone in NC for welcoming us and making our trip such a lovely one!